May 28, 2007

Govt Wants Varsities To Raise Intake Of Medical Students

PENANG, May 27 (Bernama) — The Health Ministry will ask institutions of higher learning to increase their intake of medical students.
The Health Ministry’s Parliamentary Secretary, Datuk Lee Kah Choon said the intake should be increased without affecting the quality of education.
The government, he added, was still experiencing a shortage of doctors, especially in the rural areas.
The ratio of doctors to patients in the peninsula is 1:1,300 while in Sabah and Sarawak it is 1:3,000.
“We want the ratio to be 1:600 which is the level in advanced countries,” he said to reporters here today.
Lee said the government now wants medical students to go through orientation at hospitals or emergency wards to groom them to become good doctors.
Efforts were also made to draw doctors to work in the rural areas by offering various incentives.